OpenProp: integrated rotor design and analysis

OpenProp is free software for the design and analysis of marine propellers and horizontal-axis turbines. Capabilities of OpenProp include: lifting line design optimization for axial flow propellers and turbines; blade chord and thickness optimization; analysis and prediction of performance curves for either a given OpenProp optimized rotor design or a given rotor geometry; blade stress and cavitation analyses; blade geometry generation and output for 3D modeling and rapid prototyping. Several enhancements of the code are planned, such as: generalization of the lifting line model for design and analysis of rotors with rake and skew; extending the code to handle compressible flow; improvements to the duct model and geometry generation capability; coupling the OpenProp geometry code with a lifting surface blade design code for detailed blade design; and coupling the OpenProp analysis code with turbine generator model for full power take-off system simulation.